I Got The "Brim Too Wide" Blues!

[MississippiLong]

as already said, give it a c-crown or a diamond bash...try to get it to "telescope," it'll take some height off the crown and flatten out the pointiness of it. DONT TRIM! The brim looks good! my 2 pennies.

 

[Mike Hammer]

SMILEY CENTRAL LINK EDITED OUT! NNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! It looks awesome!! That thing looks great, the way the crown has little handling dimples it just looks uber soft!
That is a beautiful hat the way it is and it looks great on you, now this one and the last one are the best I have seen on ya!!

That's a great hat, and looks good on you. Leave it alone.

Now then: PLEASE, PLEASE everyone AVOID visiting the SMILEY CENTRAL link in indycop's original post. Smiley Central is a KNOWN spyware loading site. Indycop, I strongly suggest you run a full spyware system scan.

 

[Colby Jack]

Pleassssssse don't trim that brim!..and please no spyware....

 

[adamgottschalk]

Opinions needed before I start cutting!

The brim on this vintage Borsalino OR clone is 2 3/4" and it just "feels" to wide. I haven't even worn the hat out of the house yet. The felt is lightweight and consequently the brim isn't very stiff - ordinarily a good thing - but on a brim this wide it feels kinda floppy to me.

What do you guys think? Do you have any similar lids? What brim width do they have? Thanks in advance for the input!

Definitely do not trim the brim.

However, I must be the dissenting opinion here and agree with you: the brim is far too wide for you. You're swimming beneath it. My test: are you wearing the hat or is it wearing you? That hat's wearing you.

 

[EVEN-STEVEN]

However, I must be the dissenting opinion here and agree with you: the brim is far too wide for you. You're swimming beneath it. My test: are you wearing the hat or is it wearing you? That hat's wearing you.

OK, Adam - I restyled the Borsalino. I bet you like it now!

 

[RBH]

I say the hat looks great on you.
BUT... work on deeping the crease in the crown [widen it on top... the crease will deepen] but that said the hat looks fantastic!!!!!.

 

[Dixon Cannon]

I'm always looking for something as wide as our friend Dalex's; now THAT is a nice wide brim.

-dixon cannon

 

[indycop]

Smiley Central is a KNOWN spyware loading site. Indycop, I strongly suggest you run a full spyware system scan.

Really?! I'm gettin rid of it now!

 

[Baron Kurtz]

Sad though it is, i know, the hat doesn't work for you. from the side it's OK (no more). From the front it looks terrible. Pass it on and get one that fits your face better.

If this hat brim gets trimmed i will never post in the "hats" section of this forum again (no biggie, i know, but it would truly make me sick to see a beautiful hat desecrated. Too many vintage beauties have been "trimmed", "converted" or otherwise ruined already).

bk

 

[EVEN-STEVEN]

The Eye of the Beholder

Thanks everyone for your input! Here's the current tally: 17 approve, 2 are neutral and 3 thumbs WAY down. Opinions range from "great" to "terrible" - which begs the following question:

"What is (objective) reality?"

There is no such thing. It's all subjective. The quandry kicks in when:

1. You like your lid but others don't.
2. You don't like your lid but others do.

Bottom line: You have to please yourself.... and then your wife.... I'm talking about hats... I think....

 

[BobC]

I'm with the rest of these guys, ES. I think it looks great on you. The bound brim is too nice to cut back. I say wear it, man.

 

[Feraud]

I am agreeing with the Baron on this one.
The side view looks o.k. The front picture does not look so good. Try reshaping the crown with a deeper shape.

As for the brim.. sell it before you trim it. Ask anyone who owns a few hats, you can always find another one. There is no reason to ruin this one.

 

[ipokebadgers]

This is from someone who doesn't know diddley but I wouldn't cut it. That is a great looking hat. I would try at tighter pinch with a diamond bash before you give up. I think it looks good on you but, again, I only know what I like.

 

[Sefton]

I'm finding it difficult to say based on the quality of the photos that you've provided. Can you get a friend to shoot a few more from several different ranges? Maybe a full body shot and a medium close under natural light would help. Lastly I'd say if it's not your only hat why not just keep it for a while and see how you feel about it later?

 

[DrSpeed]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
Don't do it. It looks just fine and it would be a shame to cripple it.

 

[John in Covina]

Precision needed

Measure with micrometer, mark with chalk and cut with axe.

 

[J.B.]

ES, my recommendation would be NOT to trim.

Remember, as mentioned often above, that is a classic hat that cannot be returned to "default" if chopped?! The profile pic is perfect and it's just a "wrong" camera angle on the front shot! The pic at the same angle would improve if you lessened the severity of the down-turn snap. And since your signature look is brim up -- don't forget that that hat has endless possibilities... For example, here's a November, 1953 photo of the the incomparable bluesman Little Walter in said brim-up style looking intimidated but totally modish while meeting the former heavyweight champ Ezzard Charles, "The Cincinnati Cobra."

So...

"If you trimma that brim,
your results may be grim!" ~ J. Cochran

Just bag it up, put it away, and haul it out again in a year or so and re-visit.

Too, keep in mind that everyone looks good in some style of lid.

Many have found their style...
...while others will forever continue to seek.

That said, with no intended slight to any FL member (me included) from the fantastic hat wearing subject pics I've looked at on tFL -- there are at least several natural-born God-given bona fide born-to-wear-hats people here who to me seemingly exemplify a particular style -or- wear a "look" to perfection. Just MHO, EVEN-STEVEN reminds me of the quintessential early-mid 50's guy perfect in a 50's tapered shorter-brim lid...

(A few others that come to mind? RBH - wide brims, straws; KObalto - anything; Big Man - boater, center dent; Art Fawcett - vintage, classic style; and cetera desunt)

I only qualify in the "button beanie" category...

 

[Marcus Brody]

Instead of trimming, consider adding more brim curl from the side and having the hat come down more in the front and back. This should push the side brim upwards while also creating the illusion of a shorter brim. I recently did this for a Dobbs 15 that has something like a 3 inch brim. I noticed your brim is almost completely flat, so there's plenty of room to add more brim curl without being excessive.

 

[MAB1]

Don't cut that brim. I think it looks fantastic.

Just curl up the sides a lil bit, if you can't stand it.

 

[BellyTank]

I kind of agree with Baron and Feraud- but... Adamsgot can talk to the hand.
(no appropriate smilies)

In the front view, the hat(probably in combination with your face/head proportions and the camera's biased eye)does indeed appear very broad brimmed, to the extent of moving out of the bounds of Fedora shape and proportion and into some shapeless blob.

Are you listening..?
(no appropriate smilies)

But I like the profile- a preference for taller, squarer crowns, although I have a "round face". Fat. Enough about me...
Anyway, spend a while playing with the crown height/shape and see if anything gets any better. The brim won't change width but the overall dynamic will- maybe even for the worse. But it may make the case more clear for you. And it won't cost anything or ruin a hat. It is a great hat and in our hat loving context, to circumchop that hat would be a crime- let it go.

If I were you, (thank God, I'm not)(no appropriate smilies)I'd go with the candid few, who aren't afraid to be kind.
Excluding Adam of course, he's just totally mental(no appropriate smilies) but he does have chalk, which can come in handy.(no appropriate smilies)

Trust me, I'm right.
My wife is a Doctor and she says you should trust me too.

Nice hat.


B
T
(mean drunk)
(hey, it's Saturday night)